I think its safe to say that Spring has officially arrived in Prague. The weather has been amazing and I haven’t had to wear my winter jacket this entire week. It is incredible what the sunshine can do to these people. Its like the entirety of Prague came out of hibernation and along with the start of tourist season, the city is crowded! The tree outside my window has been growing greener and greener by the day, and the sunset has become noticeably later than in the beginning of the semester. On Tuesday my cooking class made quite a feast! We made lentil soup, potato salad, and garlic chicken which were all super tasty (as usual), and for dessert we made Babovka cake which is like a marble bundt cake that was delicious.
On Wednesday I decided to bite the bullet and try Trdelník which is a typical dessert from this region of Europe and scattered all over Prague. It is made from rolled dough that is wrapped around a stick, then grilled and topped with sugar and walnut mix. Good Food seems to be the place to go to get one because of their many variations on the traditional dessert, so I went for the chocolate pistachio trdelník. I walked quickly to the Charles Bridge and enjoyed the ice cream filled cone with a beautiful view of the Prague Castle.
On Thursday, Jack, Marcie, Matt and I all skipped class and hopped on a train to Krakow. I had heard great things about Krakow from my dad, and going to Auschwitz was something I really wanted to do while I was in Prague. The night we got there was absolutely beautiful. The main square was practically empty and it was warm with clear skies. We got some Polish food, walked around the main square, took lots of photos, and ended the night with a decadent dessert on the square.
The next morning we dedicated the day to exploring Krakow. Krakow isn’t the biggest city in the world, and it was pretty manageable to see everything in a few hours. We started with a walk around the park that surrounds the old town square which was full of green and blooming pansies. We then meandered into the Old Town Square again to see it in the daylight. It was just as beautiful in the day and the blue skies made the most wonderful backdrop to the architecture. We went inside St. Mary’s Basilica which was unlike any church I had been in. I light a candle for my Opa, and stood in awe of the detail within the church for a bit. We then walked along their main street to get to the castle. Along the way we spotted the Church of Saints Peter and Paul and decided to look inside. Again, this church was beautiful, but completely different than St. Mary’s Basilica. It was interesting to be in Poland coming from the Czech Republic because involvement with religion is so much stronger in Poland. Many of the churches in Prague are mainly used for historical purposes or tourism but in Poland, all the churches were still in use and held mass every Sunday.
After we left the Church of Saints Peter and Paul we headed for the castle. The Wawel castle has some interesting architecture and many of its “towers” look like they were built in completely different time periods and then mushed together. We went inside the church there as well, but couldn’t quite figure out how to get into the actual castle, so we went looking for the dragon instead.
We made it down to the dragon just in time for it to spit fire. We weren’t expecting this to happen so it took us all by surprise, and we didn’t have our cameras out to document. We waited a bit for the next fire show and eventually saw it spit lots of fire. We then found these blooming trees that were absolutely beautiful. As the wind blew, some of the petals blew away in the wind and left a beautiful snow in spring effect. We stood there for quite a while taking photos and having a full on photoshoot in front of the trees. Before we knew it, a whole crowd had taken our idea and the trees got pretty crowded so we left to find ice cream and a refreshing drink.
Next on our list was pierogis. Jack found the go-to place for pierogis so we started walking there on our way to the Botanical Gardens. As we were walking big, dark clouds rumbled in and by the time that we had our food it, the sky had opened up and the rain came down hard. We were pretty far away from our AirBnB at this point, so we decided to take an Uber back to the apartment to chill for a bit and rest up to go out again later. That night we walked around the park again, and found the Kraków Barbican, an old defense gateway from 1490s, once linked to the city walls. Then we went back into the Old Town Square to get some photos of the horse drawn carriages that were everywhere, and then headed back to our apartment for an early night to work on some homework.
Saturday we planned a trip to visit Auschwitz. This was something that I had wanted to do for a long time, but I was nervous to go. For my entire life I’ve been taught about the Holocaust and the horrible, inhumane things that happened at Auschwitz, but visiting the place where it actually happened made it all seem so much more real. We went on a guided tour that started at Auschwitz I and ended in Auschwitz Birkenau. I don’t have many words to explain my experience here other than impactful. The tour did a great job of explaining the living situation and the sheer volume of horrible acts that occurred there. I suggest that everyone go and experience this for themselves. There is really no way to describe it.
On Sunday we got a train back to Prague and prepared ourselves for the last week of class. With three projects, an oral exam, and a mini test standing between us and summer we had a lot to do. It was such a fantastic weekend in Krakow and I am so glad I managed to make it there.
This semester has flew by crazy fast and as much as I want to go home, I am not at all ready to leave Prague. I’ve had such an amazing time here and the city will always hold a really special place in my heart. But I’ll leave the sappy post until next week. As always thank you for reading!
I’m updating this blog weekly, but you can follow my day-to-day adventures on Instagram: @aninavdv
CHASING BIG DREAMS 